1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a safety or protective pad assembly for use in conjunction with a bed frame, especially low height bed frames. More specifically, the present invention relates to a pad assembly typically used for older or infirm patients, such as in hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living communities or the like to protect persons who may accidentally fall out of bed onto the adjacent floor.
2. Description of Related Art
Numerous prior U.S. patents disclose various forms of cushioning and restraint devices associated with beds and the like for protecting the person in the bed, which include some of the general aspects of the present invention. For example, West U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,065 discloses a deployable air bag which in one embodiment is attached to the side of a bed. The bag inflates when an occupant of the bed is removed or falls out accidentally and serves as a cushion between the occupant and the floor when the bag is inflated. Keene U.S. Pat. No. 29,038 discloses an extension for a bed frame that slides out along one side of the bed and retracts back under the bed. Vincent et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,577 and Custer, Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,328 disclose restraining systems for occupants of a bed.
Holder et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,663, Hunsinger et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,025, Rains et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,739 and Ozrovitz et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,135 also disclose passive restraining systems utilizing pads for the bed rails. Further, Rafalko U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,726 and Alivizatos U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,087 disclose pads for a small child that incorporate padding beneath and to the side of the child.
However, none of the above prior art discloses a protective pad structure especially adapted for low clearance beds which can be mounted on either side of the bed frame and can be readily folded between a raised out of the way position extending along one side of the low clearance bed and a deployed horizontal position lying generally flat upon the floor outwardly of the bed one side in order to provide protection should the bed occupant fall out of the bed.
In this regard, federal and state laws pertaining to "no restraint" nursing homes and hospitals bar restraining patients in their beds or allowing patients to lie on the floor. Further, federal and state house keeping rules require that pads previously placed upon the floor as protection for patients who might fall out of bed not be allowed to remain on the floor when a patient is out of the bed. These laws and rules must be carefully followed if the facility is to avoid poor ratings (graded on an accumulative point basis) by state inspectors, because low ratings can result in probationary periods or, in extreme cases, revocation of licenses.
Accordingly, a need exists for a pad assembly which can be positioned or deployed along one or both sides of a low clearance bed for persons or patients who may have a tendency to fall out of bed. The pad assembly can thus serve not only to cushion the patient's fall to the floor from the bed but also to prevent the patient from lying on the floor after he or she falls out of bed.